VENTURA COUNTY'S JEWISH COMMUNITY GATHERS FOR PASSOVER.Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer Jewish families throughout Ventura County lighted ceremonial candles as the sun set Monday to mark the beginning of Passover, the seven-day holy holiday commemorating the Jews' flight from Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. In many households, days of preparation ended with the Monday night Seder, a ritual meal during which family and friends eat symbolic foods while telling the story of the night the Jews escaped a life of slavery in Egypt. ``I've been preparing the symbolic foods, but I still have to set the table,'' said Lihi Gershater, executive director of Jewish Families of Camarillo, a community service organization. ``I've cooked the matzo ball matzo ball n. A small dumpling made of crushed matzo. Noun 1. matzo ball - a Jewish dumpling made of matzo meal; usually served in soup matzah ball, matzoh ball soup, the potato kugel Potato kugel is a variation on kugel eaten by many Ashkenazi Jews as a side dish on the Sabbath. It is a casserole typically containing grated or ground potatoes, onions, eggs, flour or matzo meal, oil, salt and pepper. and the charoset, the symbolic mortar of the Jewish slaves.'' In Israel, families celebrate with only one Seder, but Jews in other countries often attend a family Seder the first night of Passover and a community Seder the second night, said Rabbi Michele Paskow of Congregation B'nai Emet in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . An estimated 6,000 families in the Conejo and Simi Valley area gathered Monday for the symbolic meal. Ellen and Andrew Smith Andrew Smith or Andy Smith may refer to:
``The meal has a lot of symbolic foods and there's a lot of show and tell,'' said Ellen Smith, who spent much of the day preparing the meal for her family and about eight guests. ``You read from the Haggada and stop to eat a special food like the roasted egg or the charoset. Throughout the meal, there's a lot of little things to keep the children involved.'' The Smith family Seder plate included roasted egg, symbolizing rebirth and spring; charoset, a mixture of apples and nuts symbolizing the mortar Jews used to build with as slaves; and lamb shank shank (shangk) 1. leg (1). 2. crus ( 2). shank n. The part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. , to symbolize the lambs sacrificed before Passover. Smith also served matzo, or unleavened bread, which reminds modern Jews of their ancestors' harried flight from Egypt. The story, as retold re·told v. Past tense and past participle of retell. in the Haggada, the ceremonial book read from during a Seder, recalls that the Jews could not wait for bread to rise, so they left Egypt with only unleavened, or flat, bread. Some families burn leftover, leavened leav·en n. 1. An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation. 2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole. tr.v. bread before Passover begins, because eating leavened bread is prohibited after that. ``We have the children hide about 10 pieces of bread in the house, then the father has to find it and burn it,'' said Rabbi Yitzchak Sapochkinsky of Chabad of Westlake Village. ``The idea is to find every crumb of bread and remove it from the house before Passover begins.'' Passover also is a time to welcome others into your home, Gershater said. Conservative and Orthodox Jews living outside of Israel celebrate Passover for eight days whereas it lasts only seven days for Reform Jews. In Israel, Passover lasts seven days. ``We have family and friends over, but we've also opened our home to others who can't be home for Passover,'' Gershater said. ``It's such an important holiday - you need to participate in the retelling re·tell·ing n. A new account or an adaptation of a story: a retelling of a Roman myth. of the story even if you're away from home.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (Color) Daphne Shye of Ventura sets the table where her parents and family gathered for Seder. Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion